S02E04: Linda Lee and Larry Bremner: Visual Methods and Storytelling

Indigenous Insights: An Evaluation Podcast

In this episode Linda and Larry share stories from over four decades of research and evaluation using arts-based methods of engagement. They discuss the many meaningful and authentic ways they have used to approach people in their evaluation projects including drawing, photographs, collage, and poetry. They urge evaluators to consider how we might change how we listen to and tell stories in our work.

Larry & Linda wrote a blog post last year for Footprint Evaluation you can find it here: Knowing place through story - Blog post on Better Evaluation

Linda Lee is a passionate advocate for using evaluation to create a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world, is Vice-President and Partner in a Canadian evaluation and social research company Proactive Information Services Inc. A Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Award winner and Fellow (FCES), Linda has worked in evaluation and research for 40+ years. She has been a keynote speaker, presented papers and facilitated workshops at many national and international conferences. She has conducted evaluations across Canada and internationally, including many countries in East Central and Southeastern Europe, as well as Argentina and Lithuania. Linda, a former CES National President, has served on the CES Credentialing Board, the Fellows’ Executive, and was a founder of the original CES Diversity Equity and Inclusion Working Group. She was a member of the CE Competencies Review Working Group which was tasked with revising and updating the Competencies for Canadian Evaluation Practice in 2017/18.

Larry K. Bremner, CE FCES (Métis) has worked in social research and evaluation for 45+ years. He is recognized for his depth of knowledge and his willingness to share his knowledge, particularly in the areas of Indigenous and decolonizing approaches to evaluation including the use of storytelling. In 2012, Larry was elected National President of the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES). As Past President, he represented CES on the international stage where he was the driving force behind the creation of the global EvalPartners’ network EvalIndigenous.

In 2017, Larry received the CES Service Award and in 2018 the Contribution to Evaluation in Canada Award. In 2019, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Evaluation Society (FCES), the Society’s highest honour. Larry is also co-editor of the new permanent section of the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, Roots and Relations: Celebrating Good Medicine in Indigenous Evaluation. As evaluators, Larry believes we are compelled to expand our future to one that is inclusive in terms of both voices and approaches, if we are to support reconciliation and address the crucial social, environmental, and economic issues that we face in today’s world.

Resources from this episode

Simon Hodges. 21 Jan. 2014. What's so special about storytelling for social change? Open Democracy.https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/whats-so-special-about-storytelling-for-social-change/

Ben Okri – A Way of Being Free

Shawn Wilson. 2008. Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Fernwood Publishing.

The transcript from this episode can be found here.

These episodes in Season 2 have been made possible through support from Canada Council for the Arts. I am grateful for their support!

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